A naked why at the YMCA
Unraveling the mystery of why old guys let it all hang out in the locker room
***EDITOR’S NOTE: Throwback Thursday features previously published articles that were particular favorites of mine, either due to subject matter or just because I liked how they turned out. This one resurfaced in my memory after I got an eyeful yesterday while preparing to swim some laps. This was part of a fun series we did at the Quad City Times called “The Choices We Make.”***
DAVENPORT - Standing stark naked in the middle of the downtown Davenport YMCA men’s locker room munching an orange, a towel jauntily draped over his shoulder, Dick Walters chortles at the notion of modesty.
The 70-something workout aficionado from Rock Island is unabashed about being in the altogether. Told 73.5% of the respondents to the Quad City Times “Choices We Make” survey say they’d never walk naked from the shower to their locker at a fitness club, Walters looks incredulous.
“I’ve been doing it for seven decades,” he says, thankfully for the interviewer making steadfast eye contact. “At the old Y, in the old days, it was all male. We swam in the nude.”
Around the locker room, midday exercisers nod in agreement. In here, regardless of body type or age, nudeness rules. It’s not unusual to see a couple guys reading the paper in the buff. John Groth, associate director of the YMCA, believes age and gender are the determining factors in whether folks feel comfortable in their birthday suits.
“In the men’s fitness center locker room, most of them are naked all the time,” he said. “Women are more particular. My girlfriend says a lot of the women cover their bodies with a towel when walking around but a lot of the older women, who have been coming here for years, will walk around naked.”
That can spark a bit of an “eww” factor among younger members, Groth conceded.
Sarah Lauterbach, a 25-year-old from Davenport, concurs.
“The older women don’t seem to care, but the younger ones do,” she said. “It might have to do with the competition factor. Women check each other out and compare bodies. There seems to be more emphasis and scrutiny placed on women’s bodies, so it makes them more self conscious.”
The generation gap seems to separate towel-drapers from the nonchalant.
“I want to be covered,” said Rebecca McVay, a 20-something from Davenport. “I don’t think anyone needs to see my body. I don’t pay attention to whether other women are dressed or not.”
Sherri Brown, rushing out of the Y after a lunch hour workout, is less bashful.
“It doesn’t bother me a bit to be naked,” she said. “I’ve been coming down here for years and I figure no one’s looking at me, and even if they are, they’re all girls.”
Where modesty really kicks in is with younger members, especially adolescents, Groth said.
“Once they get close to puberty, they all want to hide in a corner,” he said. “A lot of them are unsure and uncomfortable.”
John Hubner, a parent from Davenport, has seen this first hand. His four kids, ranging in age from 8 to 15, refuse to take a single step without a towel on. They wouldn’t be caught dead even in anything as skimpy as a Speedo, he added.
The Y is taking this new emphasis on privacy seriously as it builds new facilities or revamps old ones, Groth said.
“There is more modesty now,” he said. “All our new locker rooms have separated showers with walls. It’s also become unacceptable to have young children in the locker room. We’ve added separate family locker rooms so moms can change with young sons and dads with daughters.”
Walters isn’t so sure about that modesty thing catching on.
“I don’t know,” he laughs. “I don’t think people are getting more modest. At least not in here. Look around.”
A high school friend took me to the Jewish Community Center in Des Moines when we were teenagers long ago. Same situation there. I never went back. Too strange!